Assessment of Digital Trade and E-commerce Readiness and Associated Capacity-building Needs in Six Member States of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS)

In the United States, online sales in 2018; while in the United States, online sales were 14% in 2020, compared to 9.9% in 2018. This trend signals the need for OECS members states to participate effectively in the global marketplace, which is increasingly online, in order to reach traditional and non-traditional partner markets and avoid being marginalised in the digital economy.

A starting point for this report is that leveraging e-commerce by the OECS member states is constrained by the absence of a coherent regional regulatory framework across the subregion, limited financial instruments and high business transaction costs. The report reviews existing e-commerce infrastructure and regulatory gaps in OECS states, some of which are potential impediments to the growth of digital trade and access to markets.